Nissan Patrol 4x4 (Africa)

Yes, I know this topic has been flogged to death, but.

For years we have been taught to always use a sand bag or recovery blanket to weigh down a snatch rope or winch cable.

Here's some food for thought:



And some more:

....but ..... I hope someone youngster typing in on Google (while his parents are not monitoring his/her internet searching) that may be looking for something other than a recovery making use of a snatch strap, isn't disappointed when his search engine directs him to Patrol4x4.......

Sorry, but its just my warped sense of humour.....

Peter Connan wrote: ↑24 Apr 2019 19:10 Yes, I know this topic has been flogged to death, but.

For years we have been taught to always use a sand bag or recovery blanket to weigh down a snatch rope or winch cable.

Here's some food for thought:



And some more:

Very informative. Learned a few things.

a) Recovery blankets gives a false sense of security, and a good safety strap connected on each end if done correctly is safer. But not sure if this will work for snatching, due to the need for elasticity. Also, in the second video the cable sometimes snapped in the middle, for which the safety strap connected on each end will not work.

b) Winch rope indeed does recoil, but is at least safer than cable, which can be incredibly destructive when things go wrong.

c) Lifting your bonnet as a safety measure when recovering may be far short of sufficient. When that shackle goes ballistic it goes through everything.

In short, recoveries are dangerous, and the risk of, and damage when, something going wrong can be limited but not avoided.

I have seen a lanyard used for snatching, and it does work, providing that the person doing the recovery is not going too fast. He needs to be able to stop before the rope breaks again.

It fuses the lanyard to the snatch strap very effectively.

Another option that does work is a much longer rope going from vehicle to vehicle with loops around the snatch rope at intervals. Again, it will only work if the driver stops before the second rope goes taught.

As for the winch cable and rope, i think virtually every time it broke in the middle was due to it rubbing against something, which obviously needs to be avoided (l had thought a little rubbing would not cause any grief, dut clearly I was wrong).

(l had thought a little rubbing would not cause any grief, but clearly I was wrong).

Never ever take something out of context.

XenoBlitz wrote: ↑26 Apr 2019 07:24

(l had thought a little rubbing would not cause any grief, but clearly I was wrong).

Never ever take something out of context.

Oh boy, Wilhelm you are worse than Cedric!?

I am not a fan of a snatch recovery, too many things can go wrong as it is not controlled... much rather do a controlled recovery with a pull strap or winch... having said that, i am well aware that certain situations will necessitate a snatch recovery.

Safety lanyards at the end of the snatch rope (both sides) do assist when something at the ends go wrong. Have seen it in many tests done. These lanyards however needs to be secured to some other point as the snatch rope, not on the same point as in the video. Also, I think that the guy is creating a weak point on the snatch rope where he sows the lanyard onto, the rope there will not be able to move/stretch as the rest and all the needle work, I think, will weaken the rope.

For the center, where these ropes mostly broke, something like a pull strap wrapped loosely around the snatch strap will assist to keep the momentum down. In SA i have not seen the sand bags this guy has with loops that goes through the rope, but the "blanket" that can be weighed down with sand/rocks. I am no engineer, but think the blanket, as it cover a bigger area of contact on the snatch rope, may have a better impact than the sand bag shown in the video? So the combination of a pull strap wrapped around and the safety blanket I think will do the job from a safety point of view.

There is also soft shackles that is much more safer to use than bow shackles, but I have not used them and have not seen test myself that indicate the strength thereof to comment on them, will get a pair in due course.

Alex Roux wrote: ↑26 Apr 2019 07:35

XenoBlitz wrote: ↑26 Apr 2019 07:24

(l had thought a little rubbing would not cause any grief, but clearly I was wrong).

Never ever take something out of context.

Oh boy, Wilhelm you are worse than Cedric!?

haha.... Wilhelm...... My brother !!!!

But on a serious note... There is a LOT of valuable info here that in the excitement of either getting ones self or someone else unstuck, often gets forgotten, or the thought of " aggg.... it will be fine, those things only happen to other people" can often cause one a whole heap of pain in various forms

ricster wrote: ↑26 Apr 2019 08:33
But on a serious note... There is a LOT of valuable info here that in the excitement of either getting ones self or someone else unstuck, often gets forgotten, or the thought of " aggg.... it will be fine, those things only happen to other people" can often cause one a whole heap of pain in various forms

I have a friend that says when someone get stuck, you first make a cup of tea and consider the situation...

On another note, I have seen a video where a Cruiser attempted a snatch recovery on what looked like a Colt stuck in mud. This was recently with the floods in Mozambique. The Cruiser attempted the snatch in reverse as there was not enough space to turn around. At the end of the snatch there was a snap.... front axle moertoe and the other vehicle did not move a centimeter....

Yip.... In scuba diving we were taught to " stop..... breathe.....think .... breathe..... act ..... breathe", but a cuppa Java will work just as well...haha